Dozens of researchers from Indiana University are attending the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in Philadelphia, Nov. 7-11. This release discusses research involving education for people with intellectual disabilities, the reasons people use lubricants during sex, how support for smoking bans can encourage smokers to consider quitting, the use of stability balls for office chairs, a program that increases mammograms for African American women and a program that helps people become active.

Sexploration at IU, the second annual weeklong series of fun, interactive sex positive events offering Indiana University students information about sexuality related issues, begins today (Monday, Oct. 26) on the Bloomington campus.

IU Health and Wellness for September discusses research that looks at how living conditions impact reproductive health and how attitudes about female genitals can impact sexuality and sexual health. It also provides workout tips for runners driven indoors by allergies or weather.

Two Indiana University studies conducted among nationally representative samples of adult American men and women show that vibrator use during sexual interactions is common, with use being reported by approximately 53 percent of women and 45 percent of men ages 18 to 60. Not only is vibrator use common, but the two studies also show that vibrator use is associated with more positive sexual function and being more proactive in caring for one's sexual health.

The Center for Sexual Health Promotion in Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation has received a $425,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health for a study designed to begin filling important gaps in HIV research involving bisexual men.

While the Kinsey Scale has become a fixture in sexuality textbooks and even popular culture, the rating system and pioneering sex researcher Alfred Kinsey's findings regarding male bisexuality, and cultural influences on male sexuality in general, have largely been overlooked by today's sex researchers, according to an article in the December issue of the Journal of Bisexuality.

An Indiana University study found that young, female breast cancer survivors often suffer from sexual and intimate relationship issues and are interested in using sexual enhancement products to treat these problems. The study, "Young Female Breast Cancer Survivors: Their sexual function and interest in sexual enhancement products and services," was published Nov. 4 in the journal Cancer Nursing.

"Sexploration at IU," a weeklong series of events that offer Indiana University students information about sexuality related issues in a fun, interactive and positive way, begins on the IU Bloomington campus on Monday (Oct. 20). The event is sponsored by the IU Health Center's Health & Wellness Department. Events include a talk by nationally recognized sexuality expert Marty Klein, who will discuss "America's War on Sex," free HIV tests and a rowdy cabaret performance by the "Crimson Cabaret & Burlesque Revue."

The popular media in the U.S. have focused too much on moral issues surrounding black bisexual men who do not disclose their same-sex behaviors to female lovers, otherwise known as men "on the Down Low," with this focus creating a stigma that interferes with effective public health strategies, says Indiana University sexual health expert Brian Dodge.

An Indiana University study found that HIV care providers in rural Indiana report significant stigma and discrimination in the rural medical referral system surrounding issues of HIV and substance abuse. Providers felt that these factors impeded their ability to offer quality care to their patients.

Sexual health expert Michael Reece, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University, discusses research involving sexuality health education in public schools, in light of widespread media coverage of the pregnancy of the teenage daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Faculty from Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) have established a partnership with the School of Public Health at the University of Puerto Rico to facilitate a range of research, teaching and service activities consistent with the mission of the two schools and reflective of the diverse interests within the institutions' academic units.

Finding reliable, research based sexual health information when you need it can be a challenging task. The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University has revamped its sexual health information service to make it more interactive and accessible to a college age audience.

To address critical sexual health issues facing citizens across the United States, the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation has entered into a unique 3-year agreement with one of the world's leading sexual health products companies, Church & Dwight, maker of Trojan brand condoms. The agreement establishes the IU center as a strategic research, education and consulting partner with Trojan.

Internationally recognized sexual health researcher and clinician David Malebranche will speak at Indiana University Bloomington on Thursday to commemorate World AIDS Day 2007. His talk, "Black Bisexual Men and HIV: Time to Think Deeper," is sponsored by the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

This tip sheet discusses some of the AIDS- and HIV-related research conducted by Indiana University Bloomington sexual health experts, who discuss how the sexual behavior of young, rural singles is no less risky than their non-rural peers, bisexual men and AIDS/HIV prevention, and motivation for correct condom use. Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day.

Indiana University is considered a scholarly mecca of sexual health research, yet statewide measures of citizens' sexual health, such as rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy, are poor. A sexual health summit at IU Bloomington next week might be the spark necessary to bridge this disconnect.

Sexual health researchers at Indiana University Bloomington plan to dramatically expand the scope of their work through the new Center for Sexual Health Promotion.